Picklesburgh is once again asking for your vote in USA TODAY’s food festivals competition

Picklesburgh currently holds the number one spot in USA TODAY’s reader’s choice competition for the 10Best specialty food festivals in the country. Now the annual festival is asking food lovers in Pittsburgh and beyond to help them retain their title by voting in this year’s competition.

Produced by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP), and presented by Heinz, Picklesburgh is expected to return this summer with another celebration full of pickle-themed foods and beverages, live music, and family-friendly activities.

PDP president and CEO, Jeremy Waldrup, credited much of last year’s victory “to the thousands of Pittsburghers who feel passionately about Picklesburgh."

“When we were nominated last year, we saw the city truly rally behind Picklesburgh," says Waldrup. "After a month of ‘dill-igent’ voting, we were so grateful to bring home another win for the City of Champions. We were honored to win the distinction of being the Best Specialty Food Festival in the Country and are even more thrilled to be nominated again after our largest year ever."
Besides Picklesburgh, the current 10Best leaderboard boasts a wide array of events dedicated to all types of food, including the National Cherry Festival in Michigan, Michael Arnone's Crawfish Fest in New Jersey, and the Oregon Truffle Festival. These other contenders will have to rival the appeal of the Pittsburgh festival that, since its 2015 launch, has enticed ever-growing crowds. In 2019, the event had to expand beyond its home on the Roberto Clemente Bridge to accommodate, as a press release puts it, “the overall size of the festival footprint” and “to better accommodate the huge crowds it has attracted.”

As for the yet-unannounced 2020 festival, Waldrup says PDP is "working on some exciting new components and look forward to sharing more details soon.”

If you feel strongly about making Picklesburgh number one once again, you can vote daily now through March 2.